The WKU women’s basketball team kept its home win streak alive on Saturday by dishing out a commanding 93-54 win over Alabama State (2-3). 

The Lady Toppers improved to 8-2 on the season, and extended their Diddle Arena win streak to nine games dating back to last season.

“To come out of this stretch and be 8-2, we are really excited about it,” Head Coach Michelle Clark-Heard said. “We just have to keep getting better, that’s all it’s about.

WKU utilized an 11-0 run early in the first half to jump out to a 21-9 lead with 13 minutes remaining. Led by senior forward Alexis Govan with 15 points and six rebounds in the first half, the Lady Toppers found themselves up by 18 points at half by a score of 47-29.

Defensive rebounding proved to be the Lady Toppers’ biggest challenge in the first half. WKU allowed Alabama State 13 second-chance points.  

WKU shot 52 percent from the field off 61 attempts.

“I’m just really excited the team could come out and play the way they did after that game we had on Thursday,” Head Coach Michelle Clark-Heard said. “I was proud of the group, and happy we got to play a lot of our reserves.”

Senior forward Chastity Gooch moved into the top 10 of all-time Lady Topper scorers with 1,493 career points. She managed 12 on the night with four rebounds in just 19 minutes of play.

The second half saw every Lady Topper in action, with reserve players seeing some action on the contest. While Clark-Heard got nine points out of her bench in the first half, she saw 29 in the second half. 

Forwards Bria Gaines (sophomore) and Ivy Brown (freshmen) had big games coming off the bench.

Gaines posted a double-double off the bench with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in 20 minutes while Brown was two points shy of a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.  

“Bria came in and put in some really solid minutes,” Clark-Heard said, “I was also very proud of Ivy Brown, she was two points away from a double-double, and she rebounded really well in the first half.”

The Lady Toppers will take a week and a half off after playing 10 games in 23 days to start the season. WKU returns to action on Dec. 16 to take on Austin Peay (2-6) in Clarksville, Tennessee.